Well today I put the Ultra up for the winter. I put it in my enclosed trailer and set the transport mode in case I decide to tow it some where to ride in January. I then put the tralier in my barn.

I do have a question, I put a battery tender on the bike and plan to leave it plugged in all winter. The power cable was flat enough to allow me to close the ramp door on it and leave it plugged to the bike. I ran a heavey duty extension cable to the transformer and secured it to the rear door of the tralier. Does anyone see a problem with this storage proceedure?

 

I don't like to leave battery tender on all the time. My experience is that the batteries fail faster. I would just charge it once a month. But thats just my $.02.

 

?? Most everything I've read or heard says leaving it on the battery tender will do just the opposite....extend the life of the battery. I've always used a battery tender. Anytime I'm not going to ride, even for week, I will plug it in.

 

I leave the battery tender on all winter. Kind'a the whole point of it, isn't it? I also cover mine and leave a drop-light with a 100 watt bulb burning 24/7. I zip-tie it right to the motor. Been doing this for as long as I can remember, even with cars sitting over the winter months, I would leave one inside.It works like a de-humidifier. But hell, it was only 25 degree's this morning and no ice or snow on the roads...so a ridin' we did go..

 

.....I never quite understand why guys treat the battery on their bike so different than the battery in their car...when do you ever see a guy charging his car battery every week??? both vehicles have a charging system for cryin out loud...totally uneeded....during winter when your not ridin(if you live in New England like me for instance), just throw the trickle charger on it once a month until the little light turns green....in the spring she'll fire right up..take it from someone who's done this for 31 years.....to be honest I don't even do that and I get 5-7 years out of the battery....

 

If a battery is not going to be used for more than a couple weeks, it's best to put the battery on a "smart charger" that will provide a float charge. This type of charger will shut off at a pre-determined voltage, usually around 13.5 volts. It will then turn on at around 11.5 volts. This keeps the battery charged, but doesn't cook it like a constant charger would, even if it's a trickle. Batteries that aren't used for long periods of time (months, years) will sulfate. This will be recognized when the electolyte turns black or dark colored. This will ruin a battery.

If your charger is "smart" and providing a float charge, then your good to go. I use such chargers on my vehicles, boat, bike, etc.

Do a search on lead acid battery maintenance to learn more.

 

Yep! Going to make it a real bitch to ride it that way!

 

Your battery will be fine on a tender, better than if you were to just charge it once a month or when it drains down. The worst thing in the world for a battery is to let them drain and then charge them back up. Like it was mentioned the tender is a smart charger and is putting nothing in your batter until it needs it.

 

Leaving the tender on the battery doesn't help it. I believe it should be discharged somewhat and then recharged to get the sulfate off the plates. This doesn't happen in float mode.

 

Do you guys leave the battery in-the-bike-connected whileits being charged over the winter? I'm a little gun-shy of it possibly screwing up the bike's electrics. I'd like to leave the battery connected if possible........ the garage it'sbeing stored in doesn't have a power source. My idea is to monitor thevoltage and use a trickle charger on an extension cord once/month. That being said, what do you recommend for a smart-charger (cost?). Thanks in advance.